Major Rights Deal – The Widows of Paradise Bay

Breakwater Books is pleased to announce they have sold German rights for the debut novel, The Widows of Paradise Bay by Jill Sooley. The deal was signed after a lengthy auction to btb Random House, based in Munich. Btb Random House publishes authors from around the world including Margaret Atwood, Frank McCourt, and Haruki Murakami.

The Widows of Paradise Bay is a comedic first novel that follows a young woman, who is recently separated from her husband, from Toronto back to her hometown in Newfoundland. Her mother, in an old-fashioned and misplaced effort to spare her daughter humiliation, takes out an obituary for the husband. When the “dead” husband comes to rescue their son from trouble, the whole town is left reeling, with more questions than answers.

Author Jill Sooley said on Friday, “I’m thrilled with the Germany deal. Random House is a major player on the international publishing scene, so it’s wonderful to be recognized by such a respected organization. It’s also heartening to see that novels set in and about Newfoundland can not only hold local and national interest, but can appeal to an international audience as well.”

The deal with btb Random House was facilitated by Sandra Läderach of theLiepman Literary Agencyand also includes Sooley’s untitled next book which she describes as “a new novel which will explore some of the intricacies of the modern-day family, and stepfamily. Like Widows, plan on meeting some strong female characters with their share of problems and triumphs.”

The German edition of The Widows of Paradise Bay is set to be published in 2011-2012. The English edition is currently available at fine bookstores across Canada and through the publisher, Breakwater Books.